Gregory R. Wiseman

Some Lesser Known Facts About Gregory R. Wiseman

• Gregory R. Wiseman is an officer of the US Navy, who works as an astronaut with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He came into the limelight in April 2023 after he was selected as the commander of the Artemis II mission, which is expected to fly by the moon in November 2024.

• While studying at Dulaney High School in Maryland, Gregory and his friend started a lawn mowing business to earn money.

  

• After completing his schooling in 1993, Reid decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps and applied for the Naval Academy; however, his application was rejected by the Naval Academy.

• While undergoing graduation at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Reid joined the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program.

• After completing his graduation in 1997, he was sent to the Naval Aviation Schools Command (NAVAVSCOLSCOM or NASC) in Florida to undergo a fighter pilot’s training module.

• In 1999, the US Navy officially designated him as a naval aviator. While giving an interview, Reid said that he decided to join the Navy as a fighter pilot after he got motivated by the Blue Angels, an aerial acrobatic team of the US Navy. He further said that as a child, he frequently attended the aerial acrobatic shows organised by the Navy, where Blue Angels used to perform.

• Upon completing his fighter pilot training, he was deployed to Fighter Squadron 101, based at the Naval Air Station in Oceana, Virginia. He underwent advanced training in flying a Grumman F-14 Tomcat there.

• He was posted to Fighter Squadron 31, based in Oceana, in 2000.

• Thereafter, he participated in several aerial campaigns including Operations Southern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, which were undertaken by NATO forces against Saddam Hussein’s forces in the Middle East.

• In 2003, Reid was selected by the US Navy to undergo a test pilot training module at the United States Naval Test Pilot School (NTPS), situated at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. He completed his training module in June 2004.

• Later, he was sent to the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Three (VX-23), situated at the Naval Air Station in Maryland, as a test pilot and project officer.

• In 2006, the US Navy appointed him as the test pilot of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft F-35C Lightning II manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

• Later, Gregory R. Wiseman test-piloted the newer variants of the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet and the McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk.

  

• Thereafter, he was deployed at the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier as the strike operations officer of the Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17) and sent on a mission to South America.

• Later, he became a lieutenant commander.

  

• He was posted to the Strike Fighter Squadron 103, stationed onboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), as a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot in 2009.

• The US Navy recommended his name for the 20th astronaut class in 2009.

• In June 2009, Reid was selected by NASA to attend the astronaut training classes at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He was among the nine candidates selected by NASA to become an astronaut. In an interview, he talked about his selection in NASA and said,
  

  Complete disbelief. It still hasn’t sunk in. During my two rounds of interviews, I always felt like I didn’t belong among the interviewees — everyone had far more amazing backgrounds and stories than I had. It was great to be among a group of people so thoroughly motivated to follow their dreams. I suppose when I fly home from my current deployment in a few weeks, the emotion will finally set in.”

• Following his selection at NASA, he was promoted to the rank of captain by the Navy.

• In August 2009, Reid began his astronaut training at Johnson Space Center. He completed his training in May 2011.

• Thereafter, Gregory R. Wiseman was selected by NASA to serve at the International Space Station (ISS) as a flight engineer.

• On 29 May 2014, he boarded the Russian Soyuz TMA-13M rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to leave the Earth for the ISS.
  

  

  At ISS, Reid conducted spacewalks twice for maintenance purposes. His team conducted three hundred-plus experiments and even established a record for conducting research for 82 hours a week. On 10 November 2014, he returned to Earth onboard Soyuz TMA-13M.

  

• To study the Aquarius Reef Habitat, situated off the Islamorada coast in Florida, NASA chose Reid as commander of the NEEMO21 mission in 2016.

• Reid later assumed the post of deputy chief at the Astronaut Office and served under an astronaut named Patrick Forrester, the then Chief of the Astronaut Office.

• From 18 December 2020 to 14 November 2022, Reid served as the Chief of the Astronaut Office.

• Gregory R. Wiseman was appointed as the commander of NASA’s Artemis II mission, a manned flyby mission to the moon, which is supposed to take flight in November 2024. He will lead Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen in the mission.

  

• While talking about his hobbies, in an interview, Reid said that his interest in hobbies subsided due to a long period of sailing in the sea. Talking about it, he said,
  

  Since I have spent the last five months at sea, my hobbies have been greatly reduced. I have always loved golf, education, woodworking and running. Now that I have two daughters, they have become the central focus in my life; there is nothing finer than being a dad.”

• Reid Wiseman has worked with the Association of Space Explorers, Tailhook Association, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Alumni Association, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, and Society of Experimental Test Pilots as a member. At Texas Triangle Executive Council, he worked as a board member, and with Limitless Space Institute, he worked on the advisory board.